Marriott adds new Buckhead hotel to strengthen market share

By Leon Stafford

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

In an effort to increase its share of the lucrative Buckhead hotel market, lodging giant Marriott has taken over the old Buckhead Hotel that is just steps from Lenox Square mall.

The new Marriott Atlanta Buckhead Hotel and Conference Center at 3405 Lenox Road opens this week with ceiling-to-floor windows, expanded meeting space and a Shula's restaurant, part of a chain of steakhouses founded by football legend Don Shula.

And it will open in an area that Marriott has packed with its brands.

It's within spitting distance of a sister property, the J.W. Marriott, which sits across the street at the end of the mall. Up the street at the Lenox intersection with Peachtree Street is Marriott's Ritz-Carlton property. Nearby are SpringHill  Suites and Residence Inn hotels, also owned by Marriott.

"We are trying to corner the market here," said Liz Wagner, the hotel's regional director of sales and marketing. "They are all different brands, and each attracts its own audience."

Robert Mandelbaum, director of research information services for lodging analyst PKF Hospitality Research, said hotel companies with multiple brands bunch their offerings together to attract travelers at every price level. While that sometimes leads to customer overlap, the lodgers have gotten pretty savvy about differentiating the properties so that they have distinctive customers.

Marriott is going after the Buckhead market aggressively because of its healthy return on investment, Mandelbaum said. Buckhead often leads the Atlanta market in revenue per available room or RevPAR, a key industry measure on success.

"Buckhead is viewed as a strong market and a good market in which to have representation," he said.

Wagner said the Marriott conference center will target corporate and meeting travelers during the midweek and leisure and social function guests on the weekends. Guests at the J.W. Marriott and Ritz-Carlton are generally looking for higher-end accommodations.

However, the hotel will work with the J.W. Marriott to boost convention and meeting business between the two locations.

"We plan to work in conjunction with the J.W. Marriott on bringing more business into the Buckhead area by combining synergy between the hotels," Wagner said. "We are partners working together to enhance the choices and level of experiences our ever-changing guest requires."